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<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I haven't taught a course on Jewish topics in a while and am excited to do so this fall. Do spread the word to those you might think are interested:</p>
<p><strong>HACU 281: The Art of Being Jewish in (Post)Modern Times</strong></p>
<p>What happens when an identity that was assumed to be singular and inherited becomes a matter of choice and self-fashioning? Jewish experiences, identities, and cultures changed dramatically after the Second World War. Today’s “new Jews” can be secular or spiritual, rooted or transnational, radical or reactionary, Zionist or anti-Zionist, fans of Sacha Baron Cohen, Balkan Beat Box, or the transgender punk-klezmer group <em>Schmekel</em>. Jews globally are experimenting with new ways of expressing, performing, and questioning Jewishness. This course draws upon a range of well-known and less-known writers and artists as well as popular culture, film, television, history, and sociology in exploring the new Jewish identities that emerge in global postmodernity. We will explore Jewishness in relation to such topics as: visual culture and performance, ethnic and cultural revival and reclamation, race and racialization, Israel and diaspora, queer and feminist politics, new spiritual practices, and a host of other surprising, “new-ish” Jewish phenomena. (Meets CHL distribution)</p>
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<pre>-- <br />Rachel Rubinstein
Associate Professor of American Literature and Jewish Studies
Dean of Academic Support and Advising
Hampshire College
893 West Street
Amherst MA 01002
413.559.5498</pre>
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